Maldives ousted president faces runoff election

Male, Sep 8 (IANS) Maldives' former president Mohamed Nasheed, who was ousted from power in an alleged coup 18 months ago, won the first round of presidential polls. But he failed to obtain an outright majority, initial results showed here Sunday, Xinhua reported.

Earlier, the voting was held peacefully Saturday. Thousands of people flocked to 470 polling stations across 200 islands in the Maldives to cast their ballots.

Over 240,000 Maldivians were eligible to vote in the election in which four candidates, including incumbent President Mohamed Waheed and the ousted Nasheed were in the fray.

The other two were tycoon Gasim Ibrahim and MP Abdulla Yameen, the half-brother of former president Maumoon Abdul Gayoom.

The election has been endorsed by over 400 monitors as peaceful but concerns have been raised that about two percent of the vote could have had its secrecy compromised.

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